"Then He told them many things in parables, saying, 'A farmer went out to sow his seed. As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds cam and ate it up. Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root. Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop--a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown.'" Matthew 13:3-8 NIV
My initial reaction to the parable of the sower is to start judging the ground. We want to make the most of our time, so we should be sure to plant our seeds in healthy loam. But is that really what He hopes we would take away from that story?
Maybe Jesus doesn't talk about different types of soil to get us to avoid planting in some kinds. Perhaps He just wants us to not be discouraged when we don't see the harvest we expected. A seed can fall into a crack in a rock, sprout there, and grow until its roots split the stone. I don't have to judge the soil. I just have to plant the seeds. God will amend the soil, send the sun, water the land.
"And I shall give them one heart, and shall put a new spirit within them. And I shall take the heart of stone out of their flesh and give them a heart of flesh," Ezekiel 11:19 NAS
Wherever you go, keep scattering seeds.
Whatever you do, keep scattering seeds.
Whomever you meet, keep scattering seeds.
